American winged orbital launch vehicle. DARPA program of 1984 that proved the technologies and concept for the X-30 National Aerospace Plane concept.
Copper Canyon was a Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency program of 1984 that studied an air-breathing SSTO concept. The concept was considered validated and led to the X-30 National Aerospace Plane project of 1986, at the expense of the USAF AMSC.Concepts used in the X-30 included newmaterials, structures, and manufacturing processes. These included a composite hydrogen tank, a propellant utilisation fraction of 0.74, carbon-carbon aerodynamic surfaces, high temperature heat pipe sharp leading edges, use of computational flow dynamics to model the aerodynamic shape, and slush hydrogen as a fuel.
Status: Cancelled 1984.
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Associated Countries
Associated Spacecraft
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Copper Canyon American manned spaceplane. Study 1984. DARPA program of 1984 that proved the technologies and concept for the X-30 National Aerospace Plane concept. More...
See also
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Winged In the beginning, nobody (except Jules Verne) thought anybody would be travelling to space and back in ballistic cannon balls. The only proper way for a space voyager to return to earth was at the controls of a real winged airplane. More...
Associated Manufacturers and Agencies
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DARPA American agency overseeing development of rockets and spacecraft. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (formerly ARPA), USA. More...
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